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It was summer vacation. Specifically, the last summer vacation before Percy had to actually face the fact that his nineteen years of education had been dashed away with Hera’s abduction on his senior year.
Not like he was slacking off at the moment either. All the other campers got to celebrate their victory over the Giants, but he was on a quest. Chasing a Kraken away from a group of hapless sea turtles, who were coincidentally on their own quest of transporting an enchanted pearl somewhere very important. He wasn’t sure why, and he didn’t care to find out, either. He was just very tired.
“Stupid Kraken.” He muttered under his breath as he sent a water current blasting towards the tentacles trying to grab his face, “It’s not going to work, no matter how many times you try it!” He yelled out, in case it finally sunk in for the creature that he couldn’t be beaten like this.
No dice, as its eye scowled and the creature reared back for another attack.
“Alright, turtles, you better have gotten a head start.” He muttered, looking around to see if the creatures he was meant to be protecting had gone on their way. Nothing stuck out to him, so he had to hope they were out of the area of effect of this next move.
Alright, here it went. He screwed up his eyes and concentrated.
Water plunged away from him and the rapidly approaching Kraken, parting under his command to form an air bubble large enough to encompass the whole beast, so quickly that it didn’t have the time to squirm away. They were pretty deep down too, so not only did the lack of breathable water make it freeze, but also the drop in pressure.
The Kraken convulsed, falling downwards, but the air bubble followed it there, too, all of Percy’s concentration going into making sure it couldn’t escape as it writhed and screamed, until it finally burst into dust. Phew.
“Good job, son!” Poseidon congratulated him, suddenly standing right next to Percy, now that the danger had passed, “Thanks for helping them out. The Turtle Pearl Pass is a very delicate part of the underwater peace and you really saved it this time. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”
Percy looked at him witheringly, “Done it yourself?”
Poseidon looked at him carefully, as if trying to decide whether that was a joke or not, before he seemed to notice Percy’s ire and cleared his throat, “You know there are rules about godly intervention, son. Otherwise I would have done it in a heartbeat.”
“You always say that.” Percy accused, “This time it was a Kraken chasing sea turtles, last week it was chasing a drone away from a patch of coral, and two days before that, it was a lost seashell. I’m sick of this.”
“The peace and prosperity of the underwater kingdom was in the balance each time-” Poseidon tried to argue, but Percy’s frustrations were finally bubbling over.
“It’s always the fate of the world!” He yelled, and being underwater, the waves caused by his voice visibly smacked into Poseidon. But even that wasn’t satisfying as he turned around and began swimming back up to the beach.
A couple of campers on the surface had put together a game of volleyball, and screamed loudly when he surfaced right in front of them.
“Sorry, sorry, son of Poseidon, just passing through.” Percy nodded at them, awkwardly dodging past as he continued to sulk. The tide was coming in, anyways, so they should be heading in, anyways. He cast his eyes around, looking for a person he would be able to vent his frustrations to.
Because he knew alright? He knew that the quests were probably important. Not as important as the ones involving the Wars he had been fighting the last few years, but important to someone, at least. But he didn’t care. He wanted to be selfish for once. Someone had to understand what he was going through, but who-
His feet were already taking him to Cabin One before he could think too hard on it. Upon knocking, it only took a minute for Jason to open the door, practice bow slung over his shoulder.
“Uh, hey, Percy.” He nodded, looking confused, “Sorry, I’ve been getting strange dreams regarding archery lately, and I’m ninety eight percent certain my dad is going to make me do a quest regarding that, and I need to brush up on my skills, so is this important?”
Percy threw his hands up, “This is what I’m talking about!”
Jason looked around, “…Talked about when?”
“These quests!” Percy explained hotly, “It’s getting ridiculous! It’s like they’re treating us like errand boys when we’re their sons, and there are dozens of other kids begging for a quest, but no, we’re the ones stuck doing them all!”
Jason waited for a moment, his eyebrows raised, “…Been meaning to get that off your chest for awhile?”
Percy paused, trying to inhale again. His chest felt light. As if an immense pressure had been lifted off it. He did feel better after admitting all that. So, he nodded, “And I’m not even done yet!” He complained, “You gotta tell me I’m not alone in this, right?”
Jason paused for a moment, and then he nodded. Vindication swelled inside Percy.
“How about we take this somewhere else?” Jason suggested, glancing away from the campfire pit, where people were starting to gather for the nightly songs – which were even more enthusiastic, now that they had won against the Giants.
“The lake’s free.” Percy said automatically, because it was the only place he went to let out steam when the ocean was off limits. Which it was, now. Jason shrugged and followed him down, where the last few campers were pulling their canoes out of the water.
They both sat down on the rocky bank, digging their shoes in and watching a few loose ones roll into the water, until Jason finally said, “Everyone hates Zeus, you know? Not exactly news. But for some reason, some gods damned reason, it’s become my problem. Any time some slighted monster or deity or whatever shows up to exact revenge, I have to come and save Zeus.”
“Urgh, that’s even worse than me.” Percy shuddered.
“At least you guys get to go off the clock. My dad doesn’t seem to compute the fact that I’ve moved out and cannot keep coming back to do judgement duty.” A dry voice commented behind them, and then a boy was slinking down to sit beside them. Years of training made both of them tense up, until they recognized who had gotten the drop on them.
“Hey, Nico.” Jason smiled lightly, “What’re you coming back from?”
Nico stared at him, “Judgement duty. The judges finally attempted a rebellion, and it didn’t go great. But now we have to decide where the souls go, and the backlog has gone so high we can barely break even.”
Well, it was reassuring to know that the Underworld was so dedicated to making sure all the souls went to their deserved afterlives. Percy couldn’t help it, he snorted, and the laughter quickly spread between the three of them.
It died as swiftly as it came, though, and Percy flopped onto his back with a heavy sigh, “So, what’re you guys going to do after this summer?”
Jason shrugged, “Staying at Camp Half-Blood, I guess. Already decided that much. Might just keep doing quests until I’m dead.”
“Same. If my dad doesn’t drag me off to do Underworld work fulltime.” Nico rolled his eyes before looking at Percy, “How are you going to work around missing your last year of school?”
Good question, really. Even after he found out that the Greek gods were real, and he would probably spend the rest of his life getting wrapped up in the petty conflicts of all-powerful deities, he had intended to go to school, get a job, find his place in the regular world. And it was hard, but one year ago, he had genuinely thought he could manage it.
That was one year ago. Before he got kidnapped. Before he lost his memories and had to fight a war against Giants over the last year.
“I’ll get a GED or something.” He replied morosely, “Wanted to go to college, but I can’t afford something like Gaia happening again and ruining all my plans.”
Jason quirked an eyebrow, “Why not just stay at one of the Camps? Both the Romans and the Greeks would love to have you.”
Percy grumbled, frustration sparking in him, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting mythical creatures and doing pointless quests just because of who my dad is.” He sourly threw a rock into the lake with extra force.
Poseidon hadn’t even talked to him since the Olympians had gathered up to send the Argo II to Camp Half-Blood. Guess having a son wasn’t fun when he wasn’t actively saving the world.
“Oh, so that’s why we’re not at the ocean?” Nico asked, “You’re mad at your dad?”
“And you’re not mad at your dad?” Percy asked, hardly believing it, “You’re constantly doing errands for him. You complain about it all the time.”
“Yeah, we all have shitty parents, who barely ever show up, but are also somehow controlling our entire lives.” Jason shrugged, “What’s new?”
Percy wondered about it for a few seconds, looking at the stars as he thought it over. There had been something he had thought, while they were voyaging on the Argo II, but he hadn’t voiced it at the time. Now, though, he couldn’t help but mention, “You know what’s crazy? I’ve never even left New York for something that wasn’t a quest.”
“Oh, damn, you’re right.” Jason realized, “I mean, San Fransisco for me, but I haven’t left either except for Legion duties. And I only got there because Lupa told me to.”
Nico looked at them both, “Man, I’ve been all over, without quests to bog me down. I can’t imagine just being stuck in one place.”
Percy had to hold back a snort. He could believe that. But that was what most of them were, without teleportation powers and abandonment issues spurring them away from any place offering them safety. Stuck in one place, under an almighty thumb.
“Nope. No way. I can’t stand for this.” Nico decided, waving his hands, “You guys need to see the world, without a quest to keep track of. We need to go on a road trip.”
Jason’s eyes lit up, “Ooh, yeah!”
“No.” Percy replied, “Bad things happen if we leave camp.”
“They used to happen.” Nico pointed out, “But all the monsters were dusted in the Giant War. It’s going to be clear skies for the next few months.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Jason agreed, already getting excited, “No world-ending prophecies, no godly fathers who think they can insert themselves into our lives again, just one final hurrah for us Big Three kids. We can go see aquariums, and museums, and tourist traps!!!”
That did sound good. With the recent War, and Thanatos free to protect the boundaries of the Underworld, most of the big monsters were put away. If they went on a trip now, they would be free to actually enjoy themselves.
“Oh, he’s definitely considering it.” Nico agreed.
“Maybe.” Percy hedged, trying for a poker face, “I mean… not like either of you have a license, right?”
Jason scoffed, affronted, “We would have managed. I can drive, at least. And Nico has a zombie chauffeur.”
“That my dad could use to spy on us, so we should use him sparingly.” Nico replied sternly, “I don’t like using Dad’s gifts. He’ll start thinking that he has good taste.”
“Either way, are we thinking mortal destinations only, or some mythical spots, too?” Jason asked, counting things on his fingers, “Because I have a whole route planned, if you guys are onboard with it.”
Percy and Nico exchanged looks. The son of Hades didn’t seem too afraid of the idea, probably because he had experienced them all before, mythical or not. It was on Percy to make the call.
“Eh.” He shrugged, “Mythical spots are allowed if you can guarantee no monsters. At all. Zero percent chance of dying and/or getting framed for murder.”
“I can work with that.” Jason agreed easily, still thinking very hard on something else, clearly.
While he worked out the intricacies of their route, Percy was more concerned about the base logistics, such as: “What car are we using?”
Nico coughed, “The Romans still have their vehicles all parked up around the lawn. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind handing them over to their two former praetors and an Ambassador.”
He was such a little weasel. Percy had to fight to keep the grin off his face.
“Alright, Jason, you can play VIP better than me and Nico.” Percy decided unilaterally for the group, “You go get us a getaway vehicle, we’ll grab the things we need from our cabins.”
Betrayal flickered through his eyes, until he sighed, “Fine. Alright. Take the brown rucksack hidden right beside the door when you enter my cabin. It has all my questing gear in it.”
Questing gear. Percy didn’t know why he kept thinking about that, as he went into his own cabin first and began grabbing everything that caught his eye. Things that, he couldn’t help but notice were exactly the type of gear you would bring along on a quest, down to the extra piles of gold drachmas and pieces of ambrosia.
This wasn’t a quest though. It was just a vacation. A vacation they were sneaking out of camp at the middle of the night to have, but hey, they were all adults here! Except Nico. Nico was fifteen. But he could handle himself just fine if there was a monster attack. Which there wouldn’t be. It was too soon for that.
Half an hour later, he and Nico found themselves outside the entry of Camp Half-Blood, where Jason was standing with a station wagon, waving excitedly. A bemused Roman legionnaire was hovering in the corner, but quickly backed off upon realizing who they were.
“Thanks for this.” Percy grinned at her, and the legionnaire mumbled something back that was lost amidst the sound of car doors opening and closing.
Percy started the car, took a second to reorient himself, and then pulled onto the road, speeding along the empty car lot.
“How long will it take for them to miss us, you think?” Nico asked, over the roar of the wind whipping through the windows.
“Who cares?” Jason replied, “I’ve wanted to see the National Aviary for a long time and we’re not turning back until we get to Pennsylvania.”
Percy thought on it for a few seconds, before finally settling on, “I don’t know where that is.”
“I have a map!” He shuffled through the bag Nico had grabbed from the door, making a pleased sound as he located the map he was referring to, “This one has all the places I’ve seen that looked cool, but never had the time to check out.”
“And we’ll go to every single one.” Nico promised.
The first god to notice the disappearance of the three greatest demigods of the last decade was – in an surprising turn of events – Zeus.
One of his old courtships, a nymph who had spitefully run off with the Hunters after he had refused to help save her glade from being chopped down, had made a reappearance. Looking to pull an apology out of him by besting him in an archery competition. Which, of course, entailed Jason stepping in as his proxy, because Zeus couldn’t lower himself to fight on even terms with a nymph.
Yes, he was aware that technically Jason wasn’t his son, but rather the son of his Romanized self, but it was close enough in his mind to justify having him do a few favors here and there.
But upon sending a sliver of his consciousness down into the statue inside his Cabin of Camp Half-Blood to inform Jason of his new task, he found it to be empty.
Unusual, given the time of night, but no matter. He could wait a few hours for Jason to return.
Except he didn’t. The wait stretched out into the early morning, and there was no sign of Jason at all. This wasn’t a mission he could exactly postpone, so he instead opted to look around the rest of the camp, expecting Jason to be heading some class or activity, as fitting of a former praetor. But there was no sign of him at all.
This was where he became mildly puzzled.
He checked up on the other heroes of Olympus, since they were good friends with his son, he knew. Leo Valdez and Piper McLean were with their own half-siblings. Annabeth Chase was still in New Rome, consulting them on rebuilding. The Roman side of the Heroes were already back at Camp Jupiter, so they were also off the list, and that left… Perseus Jackson.
With great revulsion, Zeus searched him out. Only to find nothing. The arrogant boy wasn’t in the camp. He wasn’t in the ocean. He couldn’t be felt anywhere.
This was the point where he started to feel more than a little alarmed. Jason disappearing from his field of perception was one thing, but both of them? At the same time? The odds of it were too slim to be considered a coincidence.
He decided to pay Poseidon a visit. Even if it meant using more than the thin sliver he had been using to conduct the search so far. Any less than a third of his full consciousness, and his brother would get offended. Now wasn’t the time to get wrapped up in another grudge.
“Brother.” Poseidon greeted him at his underwater throne, barely paying any attention as he talked to a porpoise in a series of squeaks and clicks, “What makes you come all the way down here?”
“Have you seen your son, recently?” He asked bluntly.
Poseidon stiffened, “Is that meant to be a threat?”
Right. Because they were a family of treachery and murder, a statement like that would never be taken the right way.
“My son is missing, Poseidon.” He stressed, “Or Jupiter’s son. It’s the same thing either way. He’s gone, and I thought I could find him by searching for your whelp, but he’s nowhere to be found either. Any chance you may know where they might have gone?”
Poseidon didn’t respond, but he tensely dismissed the porpoise, standing up with a fire in his eyes, “Percy is gone?” He asked, and power rippled around them as his consciousness went and verified this claim. A sharp intake of breath, and Zeus knew that he had been proven right.
“But I just talked to him yesterday-” The god murmured sorrowfully, shaking his head, “We must find them immediately. Consult your wife. See if this is her doing again.”
Zeus nodded, intending to do just that, only to be hindered by the appearance of a new god.
“Don’t bother. I think my son is responsible for this.” Hades said, materializing a few feet to Zeus’ left. Both of the other brothers jumped in surprise.
“Hades!” Poseidon greeted him with surprise, yet no lack of warmth, “You haven’t been to my abode in, well, centuries!”
“The Underworld is in constant need of governance, so I can barely spare the time.” Hades explained drily, “But Nico has taken all his things out of the quarters in my palace, and I think his disappearance, along with the two of your sons’, is yet another stage of his teenage rebellion phase.”
They took a moment to digest the information that not only two, but all three demigod children of the Big Three had vanished simultaneously. And the only reason Hades could think of for this happening was teenage rebellion? Zeus highly doubted that was the case.
“Even if that were true.” Poseidon clearly shared his doubts, “How would the di Angelo boy cloak us from his notice? No. This must be the doing of some other creature attempting to overthrow the Olympians’ rule. We have to sound the alarm.”
“So soon after the second War in three years? You’ll create a mass panic.” Hades argued.
“Our sons are missing, there should be a mass panic.” Zeus replied, putting his foot down.
It took maybe three hours on the road for Percy to consider a fatal flaw in their plan.
“Hey, wouldn’t the gods be able to find us?” He asked, “By, I don’t know, thinking about us or looking around or however they usually do it?”
Nico shook his head, tapping his fingers on the inside of the car door, “Nah. Don’t tell dad about this, but I may have been experimenting with my cloaking abilities some.”
“And?” Jason looked at him expectantly.
“Nothing remotely godly will be able to sense us.” Nico explained smugly.
“Nice.” Percy grinned, his eyes feeling sluggish as he looked over the road. For a second, he felt the car drifting just a little, before he snapped himself to awareness, “Okay, I can’t do this anymore.” He announced, pulling the car over, “Jason, can you take over the wheel?”
Jason hummed in agreement, and they quickly transferred seats. Percy stretched out in the back seat, his heavy eyelids drifting shut as he mumbled, “Don’t crash us, okay?”
“Har de har, I have driven tanks.” Jason replied, but his voice was already fading out.
His dreams were confused and airy, slipping through his fingers as he tried to hold onto them. None of them were solid visions or projections for him to latch onto and be fearful of.
When he woke up, it wasn’t to a heart pounding with fear, but just a beam of sunshine coming from the window and hitting him in the face. Percy whimpered, trying to block it with a stiff hand. Underneath him, the car was moving, bouncing slightly over the slightly uneven road.
“Ha.” He mumbled, “Jason hasn’t crashed the car.”
“Whu?” A drowsy voice next to him asked. Jason? Percy jolted upwards, staring at the person sitting in the driver’s seat. He had feared that he would see Nico sitting there, but no. It was worse. There was a rotting corpse sitting there, jaw hanging dislocated as it drove idly.
Percy screamed, reaching for the door to throw himself out of the car in his panic, but Jason acted quickly in his sleep-addled daze, grabbing Percy by the wrist to stop him. Jason held up his free hand carefully, trying to calm Percy down, “Dude. That’s Jules-Albert. Nico’s zombie chauffeur? I mentioned him yesterday, if you remember.”
It was coming back to him now. Right. Zombie. Those looked like corpses. Because they were.
He looked back up at the driver, flinching to find the zombie’s head now turned all the way around, empty eye sockets boring into his soul.
“Head forward, Jules-Albert.” Nico mumbled from the shotgun seat, reaching forward to twist the zombie’s head in the right direction.
“You’ve just taken three years off my life.” Percy told him wearily, grabbing the water bottle he had brought with him.
Jason scoffed, “You nearly took three years off my life with that move. Were you planning on throwing yourself out of the car?”
Percy pointed frantically at Jules-Albert, hoping that the zombie wouldn’t be too offended if he didn’t say it out loud. With the display from earlier, he knew that he was already on the chauffeur’s shit list, so no need to make it worse.
Jason didn’t even have it in himself to defend the man. He shrugged and didn’t press the matter any further. Instead, he turned to peer at the windshield in excitement, “Oh, hey, we’re here! National Aviary!”
Percy yawned, rubbing at his eyes, “Why did we want to come here?” He asked, looking at the large box-like building.
“It’s the largest indoor aviary in the country.” Jason explained, “Lots of birds, all away from Jupiter’s eyes. Seemed cool when I was a kid, so it’s been a goal for me.”
Percy nodded, watching as Jules-Albert backed into the parking lot, “Yeah, that makes sense. How much is the admission fee?” He couldn’t remember packing much mortal cash on leaving. Jason paused, looking unsure.
“I… have no idea.”
Nico sighed, slamming the door as he climbed out of the car, “We’ll get to it at the entrance. I have money to burn from Dad.”
“You think he’ll notice the money missing?” Percy asked, trying to smooth his hair down with his hands, “Or anyone’s noticed us missing?”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” Jason assured, stepping out of the car, only to glance up hurriedly at the blank sky. Percy and Nico followed his gaze too, “Pull up the cloak some, Nico.”
“What is it?” Percy asked, reaching for Riptide’s cap, even as the air around them flickered like a heatwave under Nico’s control.
“Wind spirits.” Jason explained, “Flying overhead. Close call. Don’t know what they were looking for, but they were definitely scouring the land.”
Nico shuddered, “Let’s get inside quickly. They won’t be able to get to us in there.”
Unbeknownst to the three, Olympus was in chaos.
“They’re nowhere to be found!” Jupiter concluded, throwing his hands into the air, “No monster or nymph has heard anything about their whereabouts!”
Poseidon and Hades hovered nearby, watching their brother very intently not freak out.
“Or, perhaps.” The god of the sea hazarded to suggest, “They do know, and are simply unwilling to tell you. Because you antagonize all of them.”
Jupiter wrinkled his nose but didn’t respond.
“On the bright side, they’re not dead yet.” Hades supplied optimistically, a drastic change from his generally dreary outlook. When he noticed his siblings’ confusion, he made an affronted noise, “What? I care about my son. I want him back safe. So, if they weren’t captured and killed for the sake of a grudge, why would they be taken? Is there anyone we may have overlooked, still left over after the two Wars?”
Poseidon thought on it for a second. The seas were a tumultuous place, filled with gods trying to stake out a claim for themselves. Any number of them could have taken Percy as leverage, but that wouldn’t explain why the other two had vanished right alongside them. He also had enough faith in Percy to be confident that he wouldn’t be bested by any water god currently vying for the throne.
“No one strong enough to actually pull it off.” He finally said, “I shall ask Sally. He always tries to keep her in the loop these days, after what happened with Juno.”
“Wish my boy did that.” Hades lamented, “Nico’s always been a loose cannon, going wherever he pleased without alerting anyone. Makes it hard to tell if this is just another of his rebellious stints or if something is really wrong.”
Now that was interesting. Poseidon didn’t generally keep up with Hades except when circumstances drew them together, but the general consensus in the godly world was that Hades was the closest to his half-human children than any other god. Except maybe Hecate, who had put herself on the line to save her last surviving offspring. Hard to beat that one.
But other than that, all the gossip about the king of the Underworld recently spiraled back to the gifts Hades showered his son with, and the liberties he let him take. The Ghost King wouldn’t be half the legend he was currently without his father’s support and resources. What possible reason did that boy have to be so spiteful?
Hades shrugged, catching onto Poseidon’s confusion, “Well, admittedly, I haven’t always done what’s best for him. I suppose it makes sense for him to loath me still. We are known for our long-standing grudges.” He smiled ruefully.
It didn’t sit right with Poseidon. Of course, the Olympians had a history for remembering slights even across millennia, but they were immortal. They had all the time in the world to be doing things like that. Mortals should have the good sense to be more mindful of their short time alive.
“I will go ask Sally.” He decided, trying to pull himself out of his ruminations by giving himself another distraction. He dissipated his essence, pulling a fraction of it together to create a human form in front of the door to her new apartment, that she had bought with Paul Blofis.
She opened the door, and she was smiling, content in a way she hadn’t been in the last few times he’d met her. All that fled when she saw him, replaced with fear and nervousness.
“Did something happen with Percy?” She asked, intuitively realizing why he was there.
He nodded, feeling dread overwhelm this small part of him that the larger consciousness had been able to mostly lock away and suppress, “He’s missing. We were hoping he contacted you?”
She shook her head, eyes brimming with tears slightly, “Oh, god, it’s happening again, isn’t it?”
Poseidon didn’t want to alarm her, but it certainly seemed like that was the case, so he weakly tried to add, “We don’t know if that’s the case for certain, but it seems like it. A few others have gone missing too, so we think it’s connected to that.”
Sally sighed, and something inside her seemed to harden, “You better find him.” She told Poseidon.
He had every intention too. Sure, he and Percy were in a bad way these days, but he still cared deeply about his son. Perhaps he just didn’t show it, but he did. And he wouldn’t rest until he found his son again.
No harpies jumped out from the exhibits to try and kill them, so the Aviary was already more fun than he had been expecting.
“Okay, what next?” Nico asked, running a finger down the map, squinting at the tiny script marking out locations, “Why do you have a duck pond circled?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Jason reached over to snatch it from him, “We’ve all read Good Omens one too many times, right?”
“Nix that.” Percy decided, “Jason already got his pick. Where do you want to go, Nico?”
Nico blinked, “I’ve already seen just about everything I want. Teleportation, remember? You should pick something, instead.”
He thought on it for a few seconds, “How far do you think that car can take us?” He asked, mind latching onto one specific point, “A couple states?”
“Why?” Nico narrowed his eyes, “What’re you thinking of?”
Percy waffled for a second, “You remember our time in the Labyrinth, and there was that mythical beast ranch-?”
“Oh my gods.” Nico cut him off, looking horrified, “You want to go back there? We were lucky enough to get out of there the first time.”
“Texas, huh?” Jason looked through the map, “Man, I always wanted to go to a roadside attraction that wasn’t a front for a maneating monster.”
Putting it that way, it was more appealing. Nico was clearly rethinking his stance, so Percy took the moment of weakness to suggest, “How about, we go towards it. And see how far we get?”
Nico sighed, “I guess I don’t see the harm in it.” He allowed, mumbling slightly to himself, “Always did want to see a large ball of wool that didn’t try to ensnare all who look at it.”
“And you’ll see it!” Jason assured him, waving a hand towards the horizon, “Everything is possible, out in the countryside, with nothing to hold us back!”
“Except gas. We’re running out of it.”
Jason chuckled, looking at Nico.
The boy sighed, shoving his hand into his pocket to pull out a fistful of cash, “Seriously, if you keep draining the DOA bank account, they’re definitely going to figure out where we are.”
While his brothers searched the land and the skies, delegating the search in-person to the trusty nymphs that hung onto their every command, Hades found himself lingering alone in Olympus, unsure of how to contribute to the cause.
The Underworld was not like the skies, with little claim over them, and every little thing delegated to others, until all there was left to do was to sit back and watch things chug along. It wasn’t the seas either, with its politics that spun in circles and creatures that always needed appeasing. There was a system that always needed to be maintained and checked up on, just millimeters away from crumbling. Except it never crumbled. Because he had not spared a minute since he had been put in charge, making sure that the incoming souls would receive the best afterlife he could make available for them.
Or the most uncomfortable, if they were sent to the Fields of Punishment. He was rather proud of how creative some of those were.
Still, witty eternal torments aside, that meant Hades wasn’t much use in the search for the missing three, with his lack of expendable manpower. He could only sit here, search with the bits of the essence that he had to spare, and hope that one of the others would have a breakthrough.
Hades was the eldest of the six Olympians. He had been here for a long time, and had seen countless power-hungry specters come and go. He tried to rack his memory as far back as it went, looking for a reason that anyone would ever go after his son.
He was the recluse. The peacekeeper. Even under the most unjust circumstances, he did not foolishly snub egos or start fights amongst the gods. And this wasn’t wartime. No reason to target Nico for the tactical advantage it would give them. This could only be something personal.
But no way he spun it, he still couldn’t understand why. Nico was belligerent, of course, (The parenting books he had read up on said that lashing out was a common way for children to maintain control after feeling stripped of it, and after all he had been through over the last century Hades thought he earned the right to feel control) but not to the extent to start a fight with someone powerful enough to hide three exceedingly powerful demigods from the Big Three themselves.
Nico was a smart, well-behaved child. He knew better than that.
Except the time when he got into a screaming match with Demeter. And the time when he angered Aeolus into the point that it rained until water started leaking into the Underworld. And whatever had gotten him banned from New Rome’s Temple Hill-
Maybe he was giving Nico too much credit.
“My lord?” The wispy voice of a lampade asked, melting out of the shadows.
Hades straightened up, barely glancing at the nymph as she half-hid behind her clipboard, “Yes?”
“Well, you see, there has been some activity in the mortal bank accounts set up for DOA Records.” She explained, flipping through the forms, “Should we launch an investigation?”
The accounts were arranged in such a way as to allow the Hades royal family to access their wealth without completely throwing the mortal economy out of whack, hence vanishing any money that was created by them elsewhere.
Hades could feel his eye twitching, “You know that Melinoe has a tendency for going on benders, now that her plans of glorious conquest have been foiled. Let the girl have her fun. If you’ve got the time to nitpick about insignificant expenses, you’ve got time to search for my missing son!”
She flinched, making quick apologies. Hades wanted to take it back as soon as he said it, but already she was dissipating into a flash of fire, disappearing back into the Underworld.
Well, nothing more to do about it.
He settled down and began to reach out again, searching for even a trace of him.
“World’s Largest Goldfish Bowl.” Jason read out on the signpost. He tilted his head to look at the massive, almost perfectly circular bowl that went up to nearly two stories, “I think at this point people would just make it an aquarium.”
“Which is why this place can call itself the biggest fishbowl.” Nico informed him sagely, before leaning over to cast Percy a worried look, “You think he’s doing alright?”
Ever since they had arrived at this particular monument, the son of Poseidon had latched himself to the side of the thick glass, watching the shimmering fish swirl within the tank.
Jason frowned, checking his watch. It had only been twenty minutes since then, so maybe it was alright?
“Give it fifteen more minutes, then we break out the crowbar to pry him off.” He compromised.
Nico crossed his arms and turned away from the bowl, “If it turns out to be hypnotic or some shit, don’t come running to me for forgiveness.”
“You’re thinking too much about it.” Jason dismissed easily, “He’s a son of Poseidon. He just likes fish. Nothing weird has happened in days, why start now?” Nico snorted disbelievingly and went back to sulk in the car. Just to be safe, Jason wandered up to talk to Percy, who was still pressing his ear intently to the glass.
The proprietor of the place was hovering nervously around him, and explained to Jason, “There’s a chance he might damage the glass if he applies pressure on it like that. And disturb the fish, too. Except they don’t look concerned, so I’m hesitant to step in now.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Jason assured him, moving to stand next to Percy, watching light beams dance through the waters. Percy shifted slightly to give him more room, but otherwise ignore him.
Jason cleared his throat uncomfortably, “So… you having fun?”
“I don’t think any of this was about having fun.” Percy mumbled, exhausted and frustrated all in one, “I feel like I was just trying to get back at the gods for all those fucking quests. See how they’d fare without me for a while.”
Jason paused to look up at the sky, blue as forget-me-nots. It all seemed pretty intact, even without the three of them working tirelessly to make it so. It made him feel adrift, seeing the little difference they had made.
They both sighed in unison.
“And I sometimes think, I’m always going to be defined as his son, aren’t I?” Percy continued, waving his hands towards the fishbowl, “I can talk to fish because of him, and I want to help them because of him, and even all the way out here, I can’t be rid of it!”
The goldfish swirled around quicker, incensed by their human friend’s irritation.
Jason frowned, “Help them from what? Just a general freedom break?” From Percy’s talks before, he made it sound as if small fish were unintelligent, only capable of recognizing direct threats, and not abstract concepts like freedom. It seemed like a large, well-maintained tank guarded by tarps to keep out the direct sunlight. What did they need saving from?
“Oh, yeah.” Percy nodded quickly, “They’re saying that there are pelican-shark-human things here that are using the fish for bait to lure in mortals to drown and- oh no.”
The reality of the situation seemed to crash down on him just then. Jason cursed and turned towards the proprietor, who had ducked out of his line of sight a few minutes ago. Percy was also at full attention, water rising out from the top of the fishbowl to create a barrier, blocking the man off from where he was trying to run away.
He snarled, trying to push through the water, and then turning on them once it failed. Glamour rippled around his face, his skin graying and jaw elongating to form a snout, lined with vicious sharp teeth. Jason patted himself down for a weapon, cursing himself for his own naivete – he had left the one knife he had thought he needed back in the car.
“Thought you could take me on weaponless, huh?” The aquatic monster cackled, craning his head back to let out a hideous squawk. The buildings around them began to creak, windows and doors slamming open to reveal a group of maybe nine others, just like the proprietor.
Jason went for the last resort and took control of the air around him. It came naturally to him, bending to his will as it always had. Except this time, he couldn’t help the dark feeling building in his gut, remembering Percy’s words. Would he always just be defined by his lineage? Nothing more?
Now was not the time, he decided. He would find an answer someday, but he would have to walk away from this alive, first.
Nico raised an eyebrow when they returned, slightly wet and covered in gold dust.
“Did I miss something?” He asked, as if dreading the answer.
Jason grinned and clapped Percy on the back, “He let a thousand goldfish into a drainage pipe that releases into a river. That’s going to make the news soon.”
“There was monster trouble, too.” Percy added. Confusion fled from Nico’s face.
“Ah, alright. A few of them must be rematerializing by now. We should be more careful from here on out. What do you say we get out of here, then? Jules-Albert is teaching me how to drive, so I’m taking the wheel for the next hour.”
Percy laughed for a moment before flatly saying, “No.”
“It wasn’t a Giant, or a Titan, or another Olympian, or a minor god, or a nymph, or even a mortal cult.” Jupiter surmised, pacing in circles in front of a board they had conjured to keep track of their investigations, “That was every culprit we could think of! Who else could it have been?”
Poseidon sighed heavily, “Maybe it’s time we consider the possibility that they ran away.” He suggested.
Jupiter scoffed, “What reason could they have for doing that? Camp is safe and wonderful for them, and there’s plenty of quests to enrich the soul of a young hero. No reason to gallivant away and disguise themselves from us.”
“See, I would believe you on that.” Poseidon agreed, “But I keep thinking of the last conversation I had with Percy. It was a fight, you know? He seemed to think that his time was being wasted by the tasks I was setting for him.”
“Exactly what a spoilt brat would say.” Jupiter sniffed, “You Greeks need to instill more respect in your spawn.”
“Personal experience has taught me that no matter how big of a threat something is, people are unlikely to respect you until you earn it.” Hades injected himself into the conversation with his usual finesse, “For example; my son is quite aware of how powerful chthonic deities are, yet that doesn’t stop him from heavily critiquing their organizational plans, even while moving all his stuff out.”
Both of them looked at Hades for a worrying few moments.
“What? I spent decades perfecting the production pipeline!” Hades threw his hands up, “He had no right to snub it on the way out, if he was so adamant on not working there anymore – and I think you may be right, Poseidon. He has most definitely run away.”
“Thank you.” Poseidon nodded, pleased to have someone else on his side. So, the both of them had had devastating arguments before the disappearance happened, granting more credence to the runaway theory. He turned to look at Jupiter expectantly, “Well?”
“Well, what?” The god asked, brimming with offense.
Hades looked like he would rather be doing bureaucratic work down in the Underworld as he sighed long-sufferingly and elaborated: “Did you say anything to Jason that would make him run away?”
“Of course not.” Jupiter maintained, “Haven’t even talked to him since he decided that apparently he liked being Greek more than Roman. His loss, I say.”
Well, that was one thing Jason could be mad at him about. But certainly not the last straw.
“But Zeus has been sending him on little challenges here and there.” Jupiter added, “I mentioned the vengeful nymphs before, right?”
He had was the thing. Except if Zeus was saying dismissive things about nymphs, it was highly likely that he was doing that thing where he greatly downplayed how bad the situation was.
“And how often were these little challenges being assigned?” Poseidon asked dubiously.
Jupiter shrugged, “He doesn’t keep a schedule! He’s the king of gods!”
“Well, let’s just assume it’s enough to wear even Jason Grace’s patience thin.” Hades settled the argument, “And now the boy has abandoned you.”
Jupiter curled his lip, “Pretty rich coming from the man whose son has also run away.” He jabbed in return. The two glared daggers at each other, until Poseidon put himself in between them.
“We can’t distract ourselves with stupid arguments.” He tried to mediate, even though his own tolerance of his family had nearly run dry, “Percy is gone. Vulnerable to attack. Squabble all you like, but I’m not putting my son’s safety on the line.”
Hades glowered, the world around them shimmering with a heat haze of power, until he finally took a step back, and nodded stiffly.
“For Nico.” He relented, stalking away, “Our next course of action is finding the cloaking method he’s using. If I haven’t heard of it, that means he went behind my back to acquire it, using his own resources, which are very easy to track. I’ll do detective work, you all… continue doing whatever your plan is.”
“What makes you think it’s your son hiding them all?” Jupiter asked.
Hades looked at him, arching an eyebrow. Jupiter backed down, taking the point. Nico was easily the one with the most field experience, even while being the youngest. Poseidon loved his son, but Percy would never figure out how to do that.
But he would orchestrate a madcap escape plan. That part was a very Percy Jackson thing to do. If Poseidon slipped into a more teenager form to question the demigods hanging around Camp Half-Blood, he was sure to find some information.
Except, Poseidon found himself wondering about whether he should try to find him. If someone ran away, they clearly didn’t want to be found. Who was he to come out of nowhere and drag Percy back to camp like a errant child?
Because he was Percy’s father. And it was his responsibility to make sure that he was safe and unharmed, though he hadn’t been doing a very good job at that, as of late. Or ever.
He was hesitating on the edge of simply giving up the search here – a decision that would certainly lead to Hades killing him in cold fury – for something to spark on the edge of his awareness. A rainbow materialized in front of him.
“Call from Perseus Jackson.” A musical, yet somehow also robotic, came out of the Iris Message, “Will you accept?”
He felt as if he was struck by lightning. But Jupiter was still standing across from him, the master bolt held to the side, inactive.
Something must have gone very wrong for them to be calling now. And he couldn’t bring himself to imagine what it was that had brought down the three greatest heroes of the last century.
Nico and Percy were leaning on the side of the car, watching as smoke poured out of the bonnet of the car.
“Come – on – stupid – thing!” Jason whacked the engine with a wrench.
“Hit it again, I’m sure that’ll work.” Nico suggested, grinning slightly. Percy tried to elbow him, but he deftly dodged, “What? Why did we think he knew how to fix a car?”
Jason gave him a look that could curdle milk, “There’s probably just some hair stuck in the filter from that werewolf attack. I’m sure I can get it out, just give me a second.”
“And hitting it is helping, how?” Nico replied, the grin refusing to fall from his face. Against all odds, this was actually fun.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere!” Percy pointed out, “That’s not funny!”
Maybe it wasn’t, for someone who didn’t make a habit of walking through shadows. But for him, it was hilarious.
Beside him, Percy slumped down on the ground, a wave of intense depression washing over him. Nico hesitated, unsure of what to do now that the humor of the situation had run dry. Finally, he settled on awkwardly patting his shoulder, “Hey, it’s okay. We aren’t going to be stuck here. I’ll shadow-walk us away if it gets too bad.”
Percy batted him off, but the motion was sluggish and half-hearted, “You’re still recovering from the trip across the Atlantic, so I wouldn’t recommend pushing it. And it’s not really that I think we’re in danger, even if the car’s gone kaput.”
“I’m telling you; I can fix this!”
“But I’m just tired.” Percy continued, unheeding, “Like… tired of fighting. Tired of trying to prove a point.”
Were they attempting to prove a point? Nico couldn’t remember. He was just trying to give his two friends a good experience of the American tourist scene. And maybe avoid his father and his lecture’s about responsibilities that Nico never asked to be saddled with. He held his tongue, though, and waited for Percy to explain what he thought was going on here.
“We’re trying to prove a point to the gods, aren’t we?” Percy didn’t fail to deliver, just seconds after, “That we can up and leave, whether they like it or not. And running away from our problems instead of talking them out like adults.”
Nico felt a flicker of shame go through him, remembering his thoughts just a moment prior.
“I think this a wakeup call.” Percy decided, waving a hand at the bonnet of the car, which had now at least started spewing less smoke, “It’s time we talked it out.”
“Fine, yeah, I can’t fix this thing.” Jason conceded, putting the wrench aside, “Let’s just wave the white flag now.”
“Alright…” Nico hesitated, before finally letting his shields fall. There wasn’t any noticeable difference to anyone else, but for him, it was like finally putting down a massive weight. He sighed, his knees feeling weak now that he was finally acknowledging the amount of stress he was under. But he looked instead at Percy, whose plan they were all following now apparently, “The shields are down. So, what now?”
Percy held up a gold drachma and a water bottle, “Never heard of an Iris Message?” He asked.
Nico hoped his face was expressive enough to show how little he thought of that joke. Percy shook his head and uncapped the bottle, making the water flow out with his powers and float in the air, forming a lens that caught the light to create a rainbow.
His fine control had greatly improved, even for things that didn’t involve fighting. It was impressive.
The drachma fizzled inside the rainbow, and the message was sent out. Nico felt iron settling into the pits of his stomach. This was it. Their weeks of anonymity and freedom, cut short. But only if the call went through. If Poseidon cared enough to hear from his son. If anyone had even noticed their impromptu disappearance-
“Hello, Percy?” Poseidon’s voice broke over the rippling sounds of the rainbow. His voice was strained, but nonetheless happy. He looked about the same as he always did in his middle-aged fisherman form, and his eyes were darting around, taking them all in one by one, until finally settling on Percy, relieved.
“Uh. Hey, dad.” Percy greeted, his voice small, “So, me and Jason and Nico went on a little trip-”
“Where are you?” Poseidon interrupted, before Percy could attempt spinning an excuse for a disappearance that had likely gone unnoticed by the god.
“Somewhere in… Tennessee?” Percy hazarded a guess.
“And it’s just the three of you?” Wait, what? Did they know how many of them had gone on this trip? How? Nico’s defenses were iron-tight, he was sure of it.
“Yeah, it’s- it’s the three of us and the car.” Percy admitted, “Wait, how did you know that?”
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Poseidon explained, running a hand through his hair, his eyes wild with what Nico was starting to realize was relief, “Speaking of which…”
He glowed brightly through the iridescent view of the Iris Message, and then the call was cut off, presumably from the force of his True Form.
Something flashed behind the car, and Nico clapped his hands over his eyes, because he liked his sanity very much, thank you. Once the light died down, the three demigods looked over the car, to find the Big Three Gods looking at them imperiously.
“…We need to talk.” Poseidon finished.
Hades was boring holes into Nico’s skull, even as he tried to return the gaze with equal hatred, “Perhaps in private.” The god of death suggested.
Percy followed after Poseidon, rubbing at his arm, “So… you sounded really weird. Over the Iris Message.” He noted.
Poseidon’s eyes flickered shut, “You left Camp, with no note and no explanation.” He said, voice devoid of inflection, a stark contrast from the raw way he was talking before. Which could not mean anything good.
“I’m sure the hermit crab population was fine, Dad.” Percy tried to argue, even as the guilt was bearing down on him.
“I thought you had been kidnapped. That a god or spirit had whisked you away again. That you were in danger.” Poseidon’s voice was breaking slightly, unable to contain his rage.
It sparked against Percy’s own nerves, and his hackles were rising before he could even think about it, “You’ve made me fight wars for you! I can handle myself!” Why had he thought that talking things out would be good? This clearly wasn’t working.
“Everyone thinks that, Percy.” His father responded, more somber than angry now, “But when you live as long as I have, you know that that’s not true. There will always be someone stronger. Someone a hero can’t handle. Is it so hard to believe that I can be scared for you?”
“Yeah.” Percy agreed honestly, but the truth sounded bad put out into the open like that. He had to tack on an explanation, to justify why he felt this way, “I mean, you use me as an errand boy half the time.”
He expected Poseidon to argue. To monologue about the importance of upholding the traditions of the sea to promote peace within its waters. Instead of any of that, he was met with contemplative silence.
“You know… perhaps I do ask a bit too much of you.” Poseidon allowed, “You deserve to have a life in the world you’ve chosen, even if you’re no longer a child. Not forced to be here, given tasks you have no personal reason to do.”
And Percy knew that. He had known it for months now. He had been the one trying to tell Poseidon that for ages! So, why was it so validating to hear it from the man himself.
His vision was blurring with tears as he wiped his eyes.
“I don’t want to ignore that I’m a demigod, Dad. Or that I’m your son.” He explained, “They’re pretty much an inextricable part of me, you know? But a little space would be nice, yeah.”
Poseidon beamed at him, and then pulled him into a hug.
“I don’t care about what stupid grudge match you want me fighting. I’m not doing it.” Jason burst out immediately, once they were alone.
Jupiter’s eyes flashed dangerously, “That is Zeus sending you on those quests, not me. And even still, you should show more loyalty to the pantheon you have sworn allegiance to. Or will you allow the king of gods to be overthrown so easily?”
“You – or he – or whatever, can fight them easily be yourself!” Jason argued back, “I know you can! It’s just your ridiculous ego that makes you force me to do it for you.”
Jupiter was silent for a while, and Jason almost thought he was about to be struck by lightning. Until finally, the god heaved a sigh and admitted, “I suppose you have a point.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Getting executed on the spot seemed more likely than this.
The air around Jupiter crackled with ozone for a terrifying second before it settled down again, and the man smiled, almost painfully, “I said that your feelings have a point. And I will try to delegate tasks better. If you promise to uphold your end of the deal, and step in from time to time.”
No, that was not what Jason wanted. This was nowhere near an acceptable compromise. But, he was a god, after all. And what god negotiates with a mortal on equal footing? Except… he was doing it right now. He had come all this way to find Jason, within seconds of them revealing their location. And he was serious about making sure Jason came back. He must have been already aware of his disappearance beforehand.
“Were you looking for me?” He asked. Jupiter froze, and that was all the confirmation he needed to dig deeper, “Were you worried about me?”
“Maybe. But I had every reason to.” Jupiter hedged, “You’re a powerful legionnaire, Jason. If something had taken you, it must have been a powerful force.”
Jason grinned, unable to help the ripple of joy that went through him at being complimented by the king of the gods. And, y’know. His dad.
“Thanks… dad.”
They shared a moment of quiet understanding.
“I knew you had run away before the others pieced it together.” Hades admitted to Nico, “Are you still recovering from the shadow-walk?”
“Mhm.” Nico sulked quietly, “What gave it away?”
“Otherwise you wouldn’t have used a car.” Hades explained.
“No, that was to give Percy and Jason the proper road trip experience.” Nico explained, twisting his ring around his finger, “Been to most of the places we stopped at, but… it’s different with people there.”
“I’m sorry.” Hades burst out, before the silence could stretch on any longer, “Listen, son, I am very, truly, sorry, for whatever it is that I have done. But surely you’ve understood, with the Titanomachy and the Gigantomachy, and the way you nearly died bringing that blasted statue back to the camp, that the surface world isn’t safe. Come back to the Underworld, where we can keep an eye on you.”
“No.” Nico said, a snap that seemed to physically break something between them. Hades shrank away from him.
He had burnt a lot of bridges in the past. This… wasn’t one that he wanted to burn. And usually – like with Percy, and Reyna too, they were the ones willing to step forward and make amends. It wasn’t like that here. Each of them were likely to leave the betrayal festering for however long Nico was alive, and then possibly beyond. Hades had already apologized, which was more than he ever did before. Nico would have to be the one to try, this time.
“What I mean is, I want to be able to make my own experiences.” Nico settled on saying, trying to sort through his thoughts, “I’m grateful okay, for what you’ve done for me. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you and your support.” Hades was clearly brimming with private joy at this admission, so Nico hoped that it was enough of a salve for the blow to come, “But I don’t need that anymore. I want to be able to have real friends. A real life.”
Hades thought on it for a second.
“I suppose I will have to allow it.” He finally relented, “But only if you visit sometimes.”
“Sure.” Nico agreed.
The others were coming back, too, and the atmosphere was clearly lighter between them all too.
“So… good talk?” He tried to wind down the conversation, “You guys can help us bring this car back to camp and then we can pretend this never happened?”
Hades laughed under his breath, “Oh, no, you’re grounded. Never do this again.”